A Second Chance
by beautifully wasted
Summary: Oneshot. Two years after Draco leaves Hermione one night, Hermione goes on a mission to bring Draco back to the Order. Takes place after the Harry defeats Voldemort, but there are still missing Death Eaters. I'm not very good at summeries. Please RnR


Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. They belong to J.K Rowling. Although, sometimes I do like to borrow them.

I looked up at him. He seemed different. Perhaps it was the war. Or maybe it was personal battles. O maybe it was the fact that he had been homeless for the past two years. Whatever it was, it had made him into a different man. I could see that he hadn't eaten much during the past few days. He was probably only living off of food given out at shelters. His hair was dirty and tangled, like he hadn't had a good wash in a few days. It was unlike the hair that I remembered. How shiny and blond it used to be. I had secretly always wanted his hair. Or rather, hair like his. Unfortunately, I was cursed with big, bushy, brown hair that I guessed some would call curly. I had to admit that it was pretty soft, though.

His grey eyes were dull and lifeless. They no longer held all the rage and coldness that they used to show. There were times, however, that I had seen excitement and happiness in them, although it was only when we were alone and it had only been for me. I used to love how they would sparkle and dance when he become excited about something. How they would turn a dark grey, almost black, when he became aroused. But that was a lifetime ago.

His mouth was formed into a frown. Not one of anger or annoyance, but of sadness. Like he hadn't felt content in years. As much as I hated him, this was pitiful. I didn't like seeing him like this. I certainly wasn't used to it. I wanted the old man back. I wanted to be angry, to yell at him. Blame him for the mess that I was in. But no matter how hard I tried, it was becoming impossible. That was, at least, until he spoke.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here? Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Whatever I felt toward him was replaced with anger. What a git! "Go away, Granger. I won't tell you again.

"Oh believe me, I would rather be anywhere than here. But Moody thought that it would be best if I came and brought you back to the Order. So, come on, I'm not leaving her without you." As I reached out my hand for help up, he pulled away. "This isn't funny, Draco. You have to return with me. Moody won't take no for an answer." He crossed his arms. I glared in return. He retaliated with a raised eyebrow. "I can't return unless you're with me. Are you happy?"

He chuckled. Git. "Now, now. No need for name calling." How dare he read my thoughts! "I was not reading your thoughts. I merely read your facial expression. I do know you quite well you know, you know. I'll return with you on a few conditions. One, I will have the Malfoy Manor back. Second, I want you to live with me again."

"Not bloody likely."

"And the third is that you will be my wife."

"That is never going to happen. You can't expect Moody to agree with this. Fuck Moody, I will never agree to this. You don't really expect me to actually do this do you?" I glared at him even more and got up. "Give me back my wand."

"No way in bloody hell. I'm not giving you the chance to force me to return with you." He tucked it into his back pocket. "Tell Moody that those are my conditions. If he wants me to return, he will follow them."

I huffed. How that hell did I end up in this stupid situation? Oh, yes, that's right. Punishment.

"_I'm disappointed in you, Hermione. You had LeStrange in your grasp. What happened? How did she end up escaping?" Moody shook his head. "I actually don't really want to know. Harry is furious. Understandable though. She did murder his godfather. As punishment for your grave mistake, you have the pleasure of this assignment. No one else wanted it." He threw the file at me. "Draco Malfoy. Reformed Death Eater. You are to bring him back. Even though the war is over there are still missing Death Eaters at large. Lestrange, for example. Malfoy can help. Either you bring him back, or you don't come back. Understand?"_

"_No Moody. You know our history. You can't seriously expect me to go along with this. You know what he did to me. There's absolutely no way that I'm doing this assignment. Give it to Tonks. She's his family." I sat their shaking my head. What kind of drugs was Moody on?_

"_Oh, you'll do it alright. It's either this assignment or your job. There are your only choices." I stared at him. He couldn't be serious, could he?_

"_Fine, Moody. But I won't enjoy it. You know he won't come back unless there's something in it for him. You know how selfish he is. He's also going to want his family's manor back. It's his home."_

"_Do whatever you have to. Give him whatever he wants. Just make sure that he comes back." He ushered me out of his office and slammed the door behind me. How on earth was I going to do this?_

"Well, Granger, do we have a deal or not? I could use a good meal and a shower right about now." I growled at him.

"I'm not marrying you. You can just forget it. Find some dumb blond bimbo to be your wife. I will never be with you again. Understand?" I walked away from him. "Come on. Do you want a shower or not?" We turned the corner. "What made you come to here anyway?"

"I don't know. I read about it. It sounded wonderful. I didn't think that anyone would try looking here. I though that it was a very un-Malfoy place to be. It's very peaceful." We walked into the hotel. "Aren't you going to ask me why? Why I left? Why I didn't tell you? Why I didn't come back for you?" We got into the elevator. "Don't you want to know?"

"No. I no longer care for your excuses. Hurry up, we're almost there." I turned the corner quickly and stopped in front of the door. I opened the door. "Hurry up. I want to go home soon. The sooner you're done, the sooner I can bring you to Moody." I pushed him toward the bathroom. "Hurry."

"Wait, Granger. You must have questions. I didn't even leave a note or anything. Don't you want an explanation?" He grabbed my arm. "Hermione, wait-"

"You don't get to call me that. You don't ever get to call me that. You can call me Granger. You can call me know-it-all. Bloody hell, you can even call me Mudblood. But you can _not_ call me Hermione. Understood?"

"I left to protect you, you know. It was for you're own good." I slapped him. Or at least, I tried to. He caught my wrist. "You slapped me once, but I won't let you do it ever again." He squeezed my wrist a little bit.

I tried to pull away. "Let go, please. Let go." He brought me closer to him. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I can," he whispered into my ear. He dropped my wrist and went into the bathroom and closed the door. A few minutes later I heard the shower turn on. _Why did it have to me? Wouldn't it be better if Moody had sent Harry or Ron? Honestly._

I flopped down on the queen sized bed. "Urg! Why does he have to be so impossible? Why does he have to ask me those things? He has no right to be the one in pain! After what he did- This is his entire fault! Stupid prat."

"You do know that it's not very nice to call your fiancée names, right?" I sat up and glared. Well, I was going to anyway. Until I got distracted. He was beautiful. His hair was wet with droplets falling onto his robe and onto the floor. His eyes were that dark grey again and I almost got lost into them again. "See something that you like?" I shook my head. "Hermione," he was looking at me again, "I'm sorry."

"What?" I looked at him with confusion in my eyes. Anger took over me. "You're sorry? What could you possibly be sorry for? For leaving me after an amazing night of making love? You should be sorry! For months I couldn't get out of bed. I thought that I had done so many things wrong! Of course you should be sorry! I couldn't eat for two weeks! You left me, Draco. Do you know what that feels like?"

"You're right. I was an ass. I shouldn't have ever left you. I was scared. I never felt like I deserved you. You deserved- and still do- someone who's not afraid to give you whatever you need. That wasn't me." He kneeled on the floor in front of me and my hands in his. "I want to make it up to you. If you let me, I can give you everything that you deserve. If you give me the chance, I'll make sure that you are never alone again. I want to be there for you forever. If you'd only let me."

I sobbed. "I don't want to hurt again, Draco. How do I know if I can trust you again? How do I know that you won't hurt me anymore?" He pulled me into his arms. "I still love you, you know. I never stopped."

"I love you, too." He took my chin in right hand and made me look at him. "I want you so much. Do you know that? Please, Hermione. Give me a second chance."

I leaned into him. "Okay. But, Draco, remember. This is your second chance. I'm begging you not to screw this up."

"Don't worry. I never plan on letting you go. Now come here. How much longer do we have this room for?"

FIN


End file.
